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Forming Reasonable Parties

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2/15/2015 9:08:08   
TJByrum
Member

Wow, I had a hard time coming up with a suitable title for this thread, but I guess that'll do.

One of my favorite types of RP's are ones where the players team up and embark on a quest (or series of quests), all the while learning about each other, interacting with one another, and seeing character development form as a result of two or more player-characters spending time together. It's all about the journey - NOT the destination. These sort of role plays just scream 'interaction', and player-to-player interaction is what I love most in role playing. The feeling of teamwork in difficult scenarios, where players must rely on the strengths of other players, is something that I really love to see.

My only problem? I never can seem to find an effective way to form the party or team. In a game franchise like Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic, or Dragon Age, the game itself spells a story for each character that can directly/indirectly link them to the quest at hand, so the team feels legitimate and efficient. But my teams always seem to have a bunch of randoms strung together simply because they were forced to do so; the team never really feels genuine or legitimate. Sometimes the characters don't even want to be in a team, and I know that's a ripe point of character development, I feel the player doesn't want to develop the character to rely on anyone.

I've had the idea of a science fiction role play, one which concerns a team of special individuals who embark on a quest to stop a potential galactic cataclysm. The original idea would have seen a bounty hunter forcefully push the players into a single team - but then it would not feel 'genuine' like I want.

I'm just curious as to how one would form a legitimate team. One's where the players are in it for the same goal, where they come together at their own will - not by force. What do you think is the best way to go about doing that?
DF AQW  Post #: 1
2/15/2015 13:08:57   
Kellehendros
Eternal Wanderer


 I find it somewhat amusing that the games you have used as examples are all from Bioware. They do a good job with crafting characters and weaving together narratives that are inclusive to the characters both individually and as a cohesive group (for the most part). While in no way belittling the work that the folks at Bioware do, I feel it is important to point out that the writers at Bioware have an advantage that we, as RPers on a forum, do not. They are all in the same room at the same time, and more importantly, they are all in the know already. They already are aware, or have a good idea, about how things will go in the story that they are creating characters for, and they work in close proximity to craft characters that fit in the setting and work together (or don't, because that is also a conscious decision).

In my personal experience, there are several ways that things can go. The first is along the lines of what you have said. The players submit their character idea, and then you, as GM, force them to work together, either through arranging circumstances in such a way as they must, or by threatening them with an outside party requiring cooperation to deal with (This is, from what I see, mostly the case for The Hallows Inn). A second course available is what I have opted for in Rise of Domrius, namely, providing the players with a set of guidelines or requirements that they must fulfill. This, however, does not necessarily create unified parties (as one can definitely see in Domrius), but it does provide a measure of cohesion insofar as there is a guarantee that all parties want the same thing. That being said, I do have to say that Domrius is sort of a compromise between the first and second scenarios, rather than strictly the second, but they do have a degree of overlap.

The third solution I can see requires a degree of player communication and trust. Basically, the players themselves would talk with each other to set up characters who can work together, and perhaps even share some history with each other. This is hard to do, given the limitations a lot of people have on their time, but when it is done right, it can produce very good results. There are several people that I have done this with in the past, and it is immensely satisfying to pull off, though it requires commitment by all parties involved, and is a lot of work.

I'm sure that there are other solutions, but I'd need to give the matter more thought before making further comment on the question.
AQ DF MQ  Post #: 2
2/15/2015 13:23:13   
TJByrum
Member

quote:

I find it somewhat amusing that the games you have used as examples are all from Bioware.

Yes, they're a prime subject to use for what I want; I enjoy their games very much.

Thanks for the reply Kell. Yes, the situation in The Hallows Inn had the players drawn together forcefully, but I would not wager they're going to stick together; stories may branch off and smaller teams may form, and some may end up fighting one another in the far future, but that's for another time.

I hadn't really given much thought on RoD, but now I realize that you did effectively bring everyone together in a cohesive unit. I guess I didn't consider the larger scale of it. I want to do something similar to what you did there, but instead of armies I want it to be individual characters.
DF AQW  Post #: 3
2/15/2015 13:56:57   
dethhollow
Member

I feel like the most important part of forming a good team is having characters who are willing to just set aside what they personally want and get involved with the rest of the group. To form an effective party, you don't necessarily need everyone to be after the same goal as long as you have characters who are alright with not being the main focus or even just have them go after a similar goal. Like for example, take three characters from final fantasy 7. One wants to catch Sepheroth, another wants to stop the scientist Hojo, and the third one wants to take out the Shinra organization. It would be easy for any of them to try and leave to take on their own objective at any moment, but there has to be some priority and leeway for them to stay together, you know? An understanding that 'we should take out this guy first, then see what we can do about this other thing'. As long as there are characters willing to give in for the more important objective, forming a group shouldn't be too hard. Of course, you also need to worry about personality types clashing, how well they get along, if their goals are contradictory, and other stuff like that, but that's stuff to figure out after you already have the characters together in a group.
AQ DF MQ  Post #: 4
2/25/2015 10:03:06   
Sir Nicholas
Member

Well my friends, the most primary problem is finding active participants that are willing to allow some creative liberty and use for their characters. Once that's out of the way, you've got a solid foundation.

Second, I find it helpful for you to find a rallying call for them. A sort of "Avengers Assemble!" - whereupon each team-member is contacted in a short scene detailing their specialty. It culminates in them gathering together for a single cause, each of them adding their unique talents.

Third, you give them a sort of "starting signal" that lets them know the adventure/quest/mission/whatever has begun, and now it's time they set aside whatever differences they may have had, and each agree to lend each other their strengths and actually work as a team. Whether it's combining powers, sharing intelligence, or just pitting them back-to-back against a multitude of threats, they show how much they can handily kick butt together.

Fourth, you have diverging character arcs or storylines that detail each individual members' past mistakes, backstories or simply have them provide exposition.

Fifth and finally - you create a Bad Guy or a team of Bad Guys that can effectively challenge them, something like sort of an "Anti-Team Factor" that really pushes them to their limit. You give them a challenge that no one can take on singlehandedly.

I find it helpful to make the Baddie more of a sort of abstract "Force of Nature" kind of being rather than an actual character. Make he/she/it super-tough, intimidating, implacable, unreasoning, and unable to be defeated through simple "pounding it until it dies".

Those are the steps I've outlined in most successful RP's, and they have served me well in the past. It's entirely up to you, the GM and the players on how you do it, but I hope my way helps.
AQ  Post #: 5
2/26/2015 11:19:56   
dethhollow
Member

@Nicholas

quote:

Second, I find it helpful for you to find a rallying call for them. A sort of "Avengers Assemble!" - whereupon each team-member is contacted in a short scene detailing their specialty. It culminates in them gathering together for a single cause, each of them adding their unique talents.


I'm kind-of curious now, have you ever actually pulled that off in an RP? That sounds pretty awesome, but I don't think I've ever seen it handled like that due to how hard it would be to give each individual member their own specific section. Usually, from my experience, it's either the group is just all contacted at the start or they run into eachother over time from either convenience or other reasons like a large event or series of events they go to check out.
AQ DF MQ  Post #: 6
3/3/2015 11:56:44   
Sir Nicholas
Member

Yes as a matter of fact, I have. Ages ago when the first RP's were still being formed (back when Twilly was a one dimensional Moglin with a cartoony stick) - we had a story focused on a duo: Each participant focused on adding more characterization to each of them, with the premise they were best friends and constant companions. I soon added my character in a major battle that introduced him, and when all was said and done, the other members of the Team did so in a similar way.

As the story drew on, each of us added something else to the group. We each handled threats our own way - and we agreed that whenever there was a specific threat or obstacle that one of us couldn't handle alone, the others would assist them.

Underlying this was the unspoken trust we had in each other. None of us tried too hard to focus on our own characters, we all let each other have their turn, starting with the leaders of the team.

With time, we became a Nakama, (Japanese term that means "Friend", "Compatriot" - often used to describe friends-like-family) and we fought together through thick and thin.

As it is, I'm the only member of that old team still on the Forums.
AQ  Post #: 7
3/3/2015 14:44:59   
dethhollow
Member

That's pretty cool, but it's kind-of sad that you're the only one from that group left here.... Maybe I should try to set up an RP doing something similar one day, like have characters choose groups of 2-3 people to run into before the IC thread starts, RP out running into eachother, and then bring them together with some large event. As long as nobody goes inactive, that actually seems like a pretty effective plan.
AQ DF MQ  Post #: 8
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